


(in love) i've always been a mercenary

by Piehead



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, M/M, Sniper Bitty, off screen deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-13 20:18:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17494643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piehead/pseuds/Piehead
Summary: Jack is the best there is. Fifteen is his partner.They're a team.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This a spy au I wrote forever ago. It's on my tumblr, too.

Jack knows that Shitty wouldn't let him down. They've been at this together for too long for Shitty to make any kind of mistake. He trusts Shitty with his  _ life, _ which could be ended in any singular moment. In this line of work, blind faith is all they can have in each other. They have to take a leap with every mission, hoping that they’re each still competent enough with their jobs to not let the other die.

And it’s not that Jack won’t take that leap on Fifteen. It’s not that he doesn’t think he won’t be caught when he’s falling through the dark, it isn’t that Jack thinks Fifteen won’t know what he’s doing and will pull the trigger too late.

He’s seen Fifteen’s numbers. Jack knows Fifteen can do what he’s supposed to in Shitty’s place, since they were partners now. It’s never about Fifteen’s competency.

No, it’s about how Fifteen smiles like the sun shines, warm and bright and soothing to Jack’s soul. How he laughs with his whole body and his hair shimmers a bit, like he’s made of magic. No one’s ever gotten so deeply under Jack’s skin before. No one has ever made Jack afraid to see them out in the field. Because even where Fifteen can be ruthless and deadly, he’s still soft around all of his edges, still looks at the world with the kind of hope Jack wishes he still had.

The kind of hope Jack hasn’t had since he lost his parents.

And  _ that’s _ what Jack’s afraid of. He doesn’t think he could handle it if Fifteen lost that shine. He doesn’t think he could handle it if Fifteen stopped being able to hope, if he ever stopped smiling. He’s afraid of a moment where Fifteen slips, and he never gets to see Fifteen again.

“You still with me, honey?” Fifteen’s voice crackles through the earpiece, the southern drawl playful, almost. Jack hears a body hit the floor behind him. “You’re gettin’ sloppy, One.”

Jack knew the guy was trailing him. A hot shiver runs down his spine, the reminder of how deadly Fifteen can be sending a spike through him.

“Not sloppy,” Jack says, trying to sound irritated and failing, “Had to make sure you were paying attention. Can’t have my partner slipping up on me, eh?”

“Are you chirpin’ me, One? After I just did you a favor?” there isn’t any real upset behind the words, but when Jack hears another body drop he turns around, spies a second man he hadn’t noticed.

“You’re welcome,” Fifteen says.

Jack looks towards the building he knows Fifteen is on top of, cracks a small smile. He knows Fifteen is smiling too.

“Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i loooooove spy aus


	2. first contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack meets Fifteen for the first time

“This is Fifteen.”

He looked like he was more cut out for something softer than their line of work. Maybe he was more suited to be a preschool teacher or—a baker? Just looking at him Jack could tell he wasn’t the kind of person for the work Jack needed him for. And he was a  _ sniper _ , someone who stuck to rooftops and shadows and didn’t get up close and personal, not like Jack did. Fifteen wasn’t someone Jack would have pictured watching his back.

Forty-two—Shitty—had selected Fifteen personally out of hundreds of other agents. The selection process had been rigorous, even Jack knew that. As kind and light hearted as he was, Shitty took his job more seriously than anything else. When he was put on permanent leave from field work (Jack’s fault, always Jack’s fault when this kind of thing happened) Shitty had taken up the task of finding Jack a suitable candidate for a new partner.

“This isn’t your fault,” Shitty told him all the time, whenever Jack’s eyes strayed to the cane or prosthetic. “And besides. The choice was one leg or seven billion people. I think we got off pretty fuckin sweet there, man.”

Jack knew it was just to make him feel better, when Shitty talked about it like that. In the grand scheme of things, it had been a choice between Shitty’s leg and the world’s population.

They wouldn’t have had to make that choice if Jack had just been more thorough, like his father would’ve been. Things would have ended differently if he were a better agent.

But he hadn’t been. He still wasn’t.

“Fifteen, this is One. He’s one of the best agents we’ve got at Samwell,” Shitty glanced down at his clipboard. He still had several appointments for the day. Getting moved to the legal department had been a smart move, but it meant a lot of paperwork and talking to uptight assholes.

“I’ll leave you to it, Gentlemen.”

When Shitty was gone Jack turned back to Fifteen. Fifteen smiled up at him, brown eyes kind, too kind. He looked so full of life, like he still believed in the good of the world. Jack didn’t want to be there when that illusion was shattered. No one was truly good anymore. It was only a matter of time before children were corrupted, made murderers, thieves, crooks, and villains by their own parents. They all grew up the same.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Fifteen held his hand out. “Never thought I’d meet the man that’s saved the world.”

Jack shook Fifteen’s hand without a second thought. His mind worked through several things at once, coming to multiple conclusions. Soft hands, but there were calluses in the right spots for a gun. Firm handshake, familiar with the necessary maneuvers to take a man down from the point of shaking hands if need be. Long, thin, fingers. Definitely a sniper’s hand.

Those brown eyes never stray from Jack’s face.

“Is there something wrong?” Fifteen asked, smile falling away.

“Yeah,” Jack decided, because Shitty couldn’t expect this to work. He couldn’t have looked at Agent Fifteen and truly thought that he was someone whose hands Jack could put his life in. Three times was too many.

Jack needed to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these are kind of just, bits and pieces pulled out of time. There isnt really a cohesive au for them


End file.
